Thinking of selling your old bike ? How much is it worth ? Bikers love to swap parts and fiddle , a pedal here a crankshaft there. We don't expect to change our frame ? The time comes however when we may wish to ride something new , especially as the market changes often.
The issue of fatigue is one that bothers me somewhat. Browsing a well known brands bike manual I see that it states that no bike will last forever and different metals have different properties. I think this is a euphemism for steel last longer than Aluminium and Aluminium fatigues. I also noted cavets in the manual about jumping etc. Whilst this seems reasonable on the surface , If i was cynical I would say that this is a perfect cop out. They build bikes for a specific job (and they are not cheap) and then advise against using them for that purpose. The thing that worried me most about that section of the manual was that high mileagewas also a contributory factor in fatigue. Now this does worry me , I accept that putting a bike through hard treatment is more likely to result in failure , but simply riding it a lot is to me , unacceptable. I think there is a reliance certainly with MTBers that they will trash the bike anyway and so manufacturers sweep this issue under the carpet.
If like me you wish to have years of life from a bike (10 to 20 years) Aluminium seems to me to be a poor choice given the statements in the manual and futher research i have done. The usual line here is that 'Aeroplanes are made of Aluminium and thats good enough for me' but this is a misnomer , aeroplanes unfortuantely do suffer catastrpohic material failure hence why they are scanned regularly for fatigue ! Also the average lifespan of an aircraft as recommended by many manufacturers I believe is unbelievably 20 years. This seriously calls into question the second hand market for Aluminium bikes. Aluminium WILL fatigue and unlike steel suitably treated has afinite life though again unlike steel can fail without warning. No Bending just SNAP! I personally would not buy a second hand Alu bike that had say ten years on the clock on a daily commute (hence lots of stress cycles )
What do others think ?
I would interested in isues of fatigue from other users , either cracks developing or weld failure etc
The issue of fatigue is one that bothers me somewhat. Browsing a well known brands bike manual I see that it states that no bike will last forever and different metals have different properties. I think this is a euphemism for steel last longer than Aluminium and Aluminium fatigues. I also noted cavets in the manual about jumping etc. Whilst this seems reasonable on the surface , If i was cynical I would say that this is a perfect cop out. They build bikes for a specific job (and they are not cheap) and then advise against using them for that purpose. The thing that worried me most about that section of the manual was that high mileagewas also a contributory factor in fatigue. Now this does worry me , I accept that putting a bike through hard treatment is more likely to result in failure , but simply riding it a lot is to me , unacceptable. I think there is a reliance certainly with MTBers that they will trash the bike anyway and so manufacturers sweep this issue under the carpet.
If like me you wish to have years of life from a bike (10 to 20 years) Aluminium seems to me to be a poor choice given the statements in the manual and futher research i have done. The usual line here is that 'Aeroplanes are made of Aluminium and thats good enough for me' but this is a misnomer , aeroplanes unfortuantely do suffer catastrpohic material failure hence why they are scanned regularly for fatigue ! Also the average lifespan of an aircraft as recommended by many manufacturers I believe is unbelievably 20 years. This seriously calls into question the second hand market for Aluminium bikes. Aluminium WILL fatigue and unlike steel suitably treated has afinite life though again unlike steel can fail without warning. No Bending just SNAP! I personally would not buy a second hand Alu bike that had say ten years on the clock on a daily commute (hence lots of stress cycles )
What do others think ?
I would interested in isues of fatigue from other users , either cracks developing or weld failure etc
) I had an aluminium washer welded to each side and its been fine ever since. I inspect the frame thoroughly every couple of months though. When I got it, it was a 6 month old ex-demonstrator that had spent some time in the Alps and I'd been averaging around 100 miles off-road every week for 7 years.
